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    The partnership

With nearly 70 years of professional expertise, SEGELKEN & SUCHOPAR offers specific legal advice and support as well as representation of interests both out of court as well as in court. Founded in Hamburg and expanded to Berlin, our clients come from decades-long connections as well as newly acquired contacts.
SEGELKEN & SUCHOPAR combines many years of experience with innovative solutions – our strategy for optimal results.

We have made a name for ourselves nationally and internationally with our specialisations in transport law and insurance law. Our special feature: We have a worldwide network and are widely diversified. Our network of renowned law offices reaches far beyond the borders of Europe. Were are thereby capable of representing the interests of our clients in all notable domestic and international locations or can bring in local law offices as needed. We maintain a uniform high standard within this network – wherever our clients require support, they will receive first-class and reliable advice and representation. We can also bring in experts, auditors or tax advisors at any time to work out a comprehensive solution to a problem.

When providing advice, we always think from a business perspective and beyond the mere legal issue. We want more, do more and view ourselves as a sparring partner with the objective of our clients always clearly in view. It involves trust, creative solutions and economically sensible results. SEGELKEN & SUCHOPAR offers help in decision-making: No matter what path you choose, you can count on our support and assertiveness. We will stay by your side. Contact us.

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We have made a name for ourselves nationally and internationally with our specialisations in transport law and insurance law. Our special feature: We have a worldwide network and are widely diversified. Our network of renowned law offices reaches far beyond the borders of Europe. Were are thereby capable of representing the interests of our clients in all notable domestic and international locations or can bring in local law offices as needed. We maintain a uniform high standard within this network – wherever our clients require support, they will receive first-class and reliable advice and representation. We can also bring in experts, auditors or tax advisors at any time to work out a comprehensive solution to a problem.

When providing advice, we always think from a business perspective and beyond the mere legal issue. We want more, do more and view ourselves as a sparring partner with the objective of our clients always clearly in view. It involves trust, creative solutions and economically sensible results. SEGELKEN & SUCHOPAR offers help in decision-making: No matter what path you choose, you can count on our support and assertiveness. We will stay by your side. Contact us.

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    Practice areas

Transport and forwarding law

The transport of goods is continuously growing in European and international trade. The enormous growth rates are also accompanied by an increase in the number of legal problems. Rapid and appropriate solutions must be found so that procedures will function and trade relationships will remain stable.

We at SEGELKEN & SUCHOPARare well-versed in all of the problems of transport and forwarding law, know the economic backgrounds, perform recourse for transport insurance companies and handle the defence against policyholders of carrier liability insurers. We advise forwarding agents, carriers and logistics companies in the configuration of complex contractual relationships as well as in their day-to-day business.

Our law firm is a household name in the industry for transport and forwarding law – both domestically and internationally.

Insurance law

Insurance law is a wide and complex area of law and we are the right contact for you in this area. The specialised lawyers at SEGELKEN & SUCHOPAR will provide you with comprehensive advice in all areas of insurance law and will impress you with their many years of forensic and out-of-court experience.

 

Our valuable expertise is in demand for both coverage problems as well as the formulation of terms and conditions. Naturally we also advise insurance companies in matters of insurance mediation law and in particular in the drafting and processing of agency agreements. Naturally our specialised knowledge of insurance companies and policyholders is also in particular demand in all areas of transport insurance law, a main area of focus of our law office.

Maritime law and inland waterway law

World trade is international by nature. It crosses oceans and continues into inland waters. The legal regimes and customs of trade to be taken into consideration are likewise international.

SEGELKEN & SUCHOPAR co-ordinates complex processes – worldwide. Our international network of renowned maritime law offices enables us to act nearly anywhere at any time. We advise on the locally applicable laws and latest developments or actively advocate for our clients.

We are there when legal disputes must be carried out or rights of the parties involved with the cargo must be secured. We handle recourse actions against shipowners as well as matters of the conflict of laws and general average for transport insurers operating nationally and worldwide. We advise on framework agreements, charter-parties and transport insurance and hull policies. Our clients appreciate our expertise and persistence – as well as our dedication in difficult arbitration proceedings.

Corporate law

Binding principles in companies provide for orientation and structure. Corporate law provides the legal framework. The founding, sale, restructuring, conversion and merging of companies are complicated tasks that absolutely require professional assistance.

We assist companies in the optimal configuration and structuring of relationships under corporate law. If a company falls into financial difficulties, we even advise during the restructuring phase in order to find economically sensible solutions. We define responsibilities in the area of liability (D&O), oversee legal disputes between shareholders and perform challenges of rulings.

SEGELKEN & SUCHOPAR naturally also provides advice and support for management and supervisory committees and develops strategies for the preparation and development of shareholders‘ meetings and annual general meetings.

Building, real estate and tenancy law

Building, real estate and tenancy law is a broad and confusing field of law in which the parties involved can often only marginally get their bearings. In addition, the resulting questions and disputes are often emotionally charged. We provide our clients with specialised lawyers who keep their eye on the objectives and develop strategies for constructive solutions.

The law office of SEGELKEN & SUCHOPAR covers the entire spectrum of commercial and residential tenancy law as well as residential property law and brokerage law.

Our clients include management assistants in real estate and private owners, project developers, investors and commercial or private tenants. Together with co-operating notaries we clarify all of the issues regarding contractual matters such as tenancy agreements and lease agreements or the purchase and sale of real estate.

Labour law

SEGELKEN & SUCHOPAR is one of the few law offices in the area of labour law to also cover maritime labour law. It is one of our areas of expertise. At our Hamburg office we provide legal advice to the Verband Deutscher Kapitäne und Schiffsoffiziere (Association of German Shipmasters and Ship Officers) within the context of legal adviser’s department.

In the field of labour law it is especially important to have familiarity with both sides – we advise and represent companies and employees in all areas of individual and collective labour law and conduct labour law dispute proceedings before the labour courts.

In the area of individual labour law we provide assistance for all labour law issues from Ato Z; from payment reminders to time recording, we handle all of the problems of employees as well as employers.

Co-determination through worker participation is an important factor in the planning and implementation of the reorganisation and restructuring projects of companies that we always bear in mind thanks to our many years of expertise so that problems do not arise in the first place. We advise on all of the necessary project phases and within the framework of the transaction-related labour law.

Commercial law & international private law

In the area of trade law we handle the drafting of national and international trade and service agreements as well as all types of cases of breach of contract.

Common transnational guidelines were found for trade, e.g. Incoterms for global trade. But there is no single simple reference work in either European or international trade – this is where our expertise and many years of experience are needed.

We are also by your side for the drafting and implementing of general terms & conditions for businesses as well as for the enforcement of or defence against claims for breach of contract.

Our network is indispensable in this area as well. Our co-operations with other law offices enable SEGELKEN & SUCHOPAR to represent the interests of its clients worldwide in legal proceedings both out of court as well as in court.

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    Lawyers
Lawyer

Thomas Wanckel

Lawyer

Susanne Reichstein

Lawyer

Dr. Heiko Saur LL.M.

Lawyer

Dr. Cliff Meesenburg

Lawyer

Stefan Nau

Lawyer

Jan Thede

Lawyer

Dr. Jan Albers LL.M.

Lawyer

Thomas Mälzer

Lawyer

Alexander Ibsch

Lawyer

Irina Schiller

Lawyer

Jasmin Ibrahim

Lawyer

Dr. Christian Völker

Lawyer

Ariane Christiansen

Lawyer

Erik Hieke

Lawyer

Tristan Cyrill Exner

Lawyer

Thomas Wanckel

Thomas Wanckel studied law in Hamburg and performed his clerkship in Providence, Rhode Island (USA), among other places. He has been admitted to practise law since 1984.

As of December 31, 2022, Thomas Wanckel has retired as an attorney and partner of this law firm; however, he will remain associated with this law firm as an advisor („Of Counsel“) and will continue to be available for arbitration proceedings and as an arbitrator.

Thomas Wanckel was a partner in our law firm for over 30 years. From the very beginning, he focused his practice on maritime and marine insurance law, primarily advising cargo parties and marine insurers on all aspects of transport law, charter law and salvage and Havarie Grosse. Due to his ability to always keep an eye on a mutually agreeable solution despite all conflicting interests, Thomas Wanckel has also been repeatedly appointed as mediator and arbitrator.

Fields of activity:

  • Maritime law

  • Marine insurance law and marine hull insurance law

  • Inland waterway law

  • Transport and forwarding law

  • Arbitration proceedings

Foreign languages:

  • English

Memberships:

  • German Bar Association

  • International Bar Association

  • German Association for International Maritime Law

  • German Maritime Arbitration Association

  • German Association for Transport Law

  • Shiparrested.Com

 

Office:Hamburg

E-mail:wanckel@sesu.de

Telephone:+49 40 376805-0

Lawyer

Susanne Reichstein

Susanne Reichstein is a lawyer specialised in insurance law and labour law. She studied law in Hamburg and has been admitted to practise law since 1994.

Fields of activity:

  • Insurance law

  • Transport and forwarding law

  • Labour law including maritime labour law

  • Trade law and corporate law

Foreign languages:

  • English

  • French

Memberships:

  • German Bar Association

  • Working Group on Transport and Forwarding Law of the German Bar Association

  • Working Group on Insurance Law of the German Bar Association

  • German Association for Transport Law

  • Hamburg Actuarial Science Association

  • International Bar Association

 

Office:Hamburg

E-mail:reichstein@sesu.de

Telephone:+49 40 376805-0

Lawyer

Dr. Heiko Saur LL.M.

Following his training as a shipping specialist, Dr Heiko Saur studied law in Hamburg and has been admitted to practise law since 1997. His doctoral thesis was ‚The modification of liability principles in freight, forwarding and warehousing law due to the Transport Law Reform Act‘. He obtained a Master of Insurance Law from the University of Münster in 2004. He is a lawyer specialised in insurance law as well as transport and forwarding law.

Fields of activity:

  • Insurance law

  • Transport and forwarding law

  • Maritime law

  • Handelsrecht

Foreign languages:

  • English

Mitglied im:

  • German Bar Association

  • Working Group on Transport and Forwarding Law of the German Bar Association

  • Working Group on Insurance Law of the German Bar Association

  • German Association for Transport Law

 

Office:Hamburg

E-mail:saur@sesu.de

Telephone:+49 40 376805-0

Lawyer

Dr. Cliff Meesenburg

After studying law in Freiburg im Breisgau with a specialisation in civil and European law, Dr Cliff Meesenburg performed his clerkship in Berlin, Leipzig and Tokyo. He has been admitted to practise law since 1999. His doctoral thesis was ‚The principle of the protection of legitimate expectations in European financial administration law‘ and he is a lawyer specialised in insurance law.

Fields of activity:

  • Insurance law

  • Transport and forwarding law

  • Building and architects law

Foreign languages:

  • English

Memberships:

  • German Bar Association

  • Working Group on Insurance Law of the German Bar Association

  • Working Group on Transport and Forwarding Law of the German Bar Association

  • German Association for Transport Law

 

Office:Berlin / Hamburg

E-mail:meesenburg@sesu.de

Telephone:+49 30 226287-0

Telephone:+49 40 376805-0

Lawyer

Stefan Nau

Stefan Nau studied law in Freiburg im Breisgau and performed his clerkship in Berlin. He has been admitted to practise law since 1998 and works as a lawyer specialised in labour law.

Fields of activity:

  • Labour law

  • Corporate law

  • Contract law

  • Real estate law

  • Insolvency and restructuring consulting

  • consulting on CO2 markets and climate certificates, especially forest climate projects (forestry law)

Foreign languages:

  • English

  • Italian

Memberships:

  • German Bar Association

 

Office:Berlin

E-mail:nau@sesu.de

Telephone:+49 30 226287-0

Lawyer

Jan Thede

Following his training as an industrial clerk, Jan Thede studied law in Hamburg and Tübingen. He has been admitted to practise law since 2002. He is a lawyer specialised in insurance law as well as transport and forwarding law.

Fields of activity:

  • Insurance law

  • Transport and forwarding law

  • Commercial law

Foreign languages:

  • English

  • French

Memberships:

  • German Bar Association

  • German Association for Transport Law

  • German Association for Actuarial Science

  • Working Group on Transport and Forwarding Law of the German Bar Association

 

Office:Hamburg

E-mail:thede@sesu.de

Telephone:+49 40 376805-0

Lawyer

Dr. Jan Albers LL.M.

Dr Jan Albers studied law in Hamburg and obtained his Master of Laws from the University of Hamburg. He received a PhD scholarship from the International Max Planck Research School for Maritime Affairs and wrote his dissertation on the topic of ‚Responsibility and Liability in the Context of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes by Sea: Existing Rules and the 1999 Liability Protocol to the Basel Convention‘. 2009/2010 he was an employees of the United Nations International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (Management IFLOS Summer Academy). He has been admitted to practise law since 2014.

Dr. Albers is co-editor of the journal „Recht der Transportwirtschaft (RdTW)“ and comments on the law on bills of lading (§§ 513-515 HGB) in the BeckOGK HGB (beck-online.GROSSKOMMENTAR HGB).

Fields of activity:

  • Commercial and economic law

  • Maritime transport and inland waterway law

  • Transport and forwarding law

  • Insurance and marine insurance law

  • Waste law

Foreign languages:

  • English

Memberships:

  • German Association for International Maritime Law

  • German Association for Transport Law

  • German Maritime Arbitration Association (GMAA)

  • shiparrested.com

 

Office:Hamburg

E-mail:albers@sesu.de

Telephone:+49 40 376805-0

Lawyer

Thomas Mälzer

Before studying law in Heidelberg, Thomas Mälzer completed an apprenticeship as a bank clerk. He has been admitted to practise law since 1998. He is a lawyer specialised in transport and forwarding law.

Fields of activity:

  • Transport and forwarding law

  • Maritime commercial law

  • Insurance law

  • Insolvency law

Foreign languages:

  • English

Memberships:

  • German Association for Transport Law

  • German Association for Maritime Law

  • Actuarial Science Association of the University of Hamburg

 

Office:Hamburg

E-mail:maelzer@sesu.de

Telephone:+49 40 376805-0

Lawyer

Alexander Ibsch

Before studying law in Berlin, Alexander Ibsch completed an apprenticeship as an insurance salesman. He has been admitted to practise law since 2012.

Fields of activity:

  • Insurance law

  • Transport and forwarding law

  • General civil law

  • Product liability law

Foreign languages:

  • English

 

Office:Berlin

E-mail:ibsch@sesu.de

Telephone:+49 30 226287-0

Lawyer

Irina Schiller

Irina Schiller studied law in Berlin und Maastricht (Netherlands). She performed her clerkship in Berlin. She has been admitted to practise law since 2018.

Fields of activity:

  • Labour law

  • General civil law

  • Criminal Law

Foreign languages:

  • English

Office:Berlin

E-mail:schiller@sesu.de

Telephone:+49 30 226287-0

Lawyer

Jasmin Ibrahim

Jasmin Ibrahim successfully completed her law studies in Berlin, where she also did her legal clerkship. She has been admitted to practise law since 2020.

Fields of activity:

  • Labour law

  • General civil law

  • Corporate law

  • Criminal Law

Foreign languages:

  • English

Office:Berlin

E-mail:ibrahim@sesu.de

Telephone:+49 30 226287-0

Lawyer

Dr. Christian Völker

Dr. Christian Völker studied law at the Universities of Tübingen and Constance and received his PhD on issues of international judgment recognition. After completing his legal clerkship in Strasbourg, among other places, he has been admitted to practise law in 1997. Since 2005 he is a lawyer specialised in transport and forwarding law and since 2006 as well in insurance law.

Fields of activity:

  • Transport and forwarding law

  • Insurance law

  • Labour law

  • Trade law (purchase of goods, distribution)

  • German-French legal relations

Foreign languages:

  • French

  • English

Memberships:

  • German Bar Association

  • German Association for Transport Law

  • Working Group on Transport and Forwarding Law of the German Bar Association

  • Working Group on Insurance Law of the German Bar Association

  • German-French Lawyers Association

Office:Hamburg

E-mail:voelker@sesu.de

Telephone:+49 40 376805-0

Lawyer

Ariane Christiansen

Before studying law in Hamburg, Ariane Christiansen completed an apprenticeship as a bank clerk. During her studies, she worked for several years at a major German bank, among other things in the ship finance department. She has been admitted to practise law since 2021.

Fields of activity:

  • Maritime transport and inland waterway law

  • Transport and forwarding law

  • Insurance and marine insurance law

  • Commercial and economic law

Foreign languages:

  • English

Memberships:

  • German Association for International Maritime Law

  • German Association for Transport Law

  • Hamburg Bar Association

Office:Hamburg

E-mail:christiansen@sesu.de

Telephone:+49 40 376805-0

Lawyer

Erik Hieke

Erik Hieke studied law at the University of Potsdam. He completed his legal clerkship in Berlin. He was admitted to the bar in 2021.

Fields of activity:

  • General civil law

  • Tenancy law

  • Corporate law

  • Insolvency and restructuring consulting

Foreign languages:

  • English

 

Office:Berlin

E-mail:hieke@sesu.de

Telephone:+49 30 226287-0

Lawyer

Tristan Cyrill Exner

Tristan Cyrill Exner studied law with a focus on „Maritime Business Law“ in Hamburg, where he also completed his legal clerkship.
He was admitted to the bar in 2022.

Fields of activity:

  • Transport and forwarding law

  • Maritime transport and inland waterway law

  • Marine insurance law

  • Commercial law

Foreign languages:

  • English

Memberships:

  • German Association for International Maritime Law

  • German Association for Transport Law

 

Office:Hamburg

E-mail:exner@sesu.de

Telephone:+49 40 376805-0

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    Moving forward together

At SEGELKEN & SUCHOPAR we demand and promote your expertise and passionate dedication. Regardless of your experience or career level, you will be intensively involved and integrated as an integral member of the team from the very start.

The broad range of mandates we receive from clients also offers new career entrants the opportunity to take on entire mandates – always supported by mentors: Your highly qualified and experienced colleagues are always your dependable contacts.

In addition to your expertise, bring your personality as well: We value your dedication and are open to suggestions and innovative approaches to thinking.
You know where you want to go? At SEGELKEN & SUCHOPAR we support your individual career aspirations – we feel that a good work-life balance is naturally a part of this.

Please send your complete and informative application documents to: karriere@sesu.de.

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    Kontakt

Hamburg office

SEGELKEN & SUCHOPAR
Rechtsanwälte
Stubbenhuk 7
20459 Hamburg

T: +49 40 376805-0
F: +49 40 362071
Emergency-T: +49 151 14041760

info@sesu.de
hamburg@sesu.de

(c) mapz.com – Map Data: OpenStreetMap ODb

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Berlin office

SEGELKEN & SUCHOPAR
Rechtsanwälte
Kurfürstendamm 44
10719 Berlin

T: +49 30 226287-0
F: +49 30 226287-55
Emergency-T: +49 151 14041760

info@sesu.de
berlin@sesu.de

Kartenausschnitt Standort Segelken&Suchopar Berlin

(c) mapz.com – Map Data: OpenStreetMap ODb

Open address in GoogleMaps